Summer is here! Although many children take a break from the classroom, it’s easy (and important!) to still encourage learning and literacy reading skills at home by enjoying books together. Even infants benefit from being read to, long before they recognize words or follow along with stories.

The slower pace of summer break naturally provides opportunities to read with your child, so whether you’re going on a road trip, headed to the pool or waiting for a table at your neighborhood restaurant, be sure to bring some books along.

Check out our favorite reads that keep minds active while on summer vacation:

Repetition/Sequence

• Ages 0-3
  • We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen
  • Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
• Ages 3-5
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

Rhyming/Rhythm

• Ages 0-3
  • Read- Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young by Jack Prelutsky and Marc Brown
  • Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
• Ages 3-5
  • Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
  • Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins

Mathematics

• Ages 0-3Counting Farm Book by Kathy Henderson
  • Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
• Ages 3-5
  • Each Orange Had 8 Slices by Paul Giganti
  • Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

Colors/Shapes

• Ages 0-3
  • Baby Talk: Colors! by Charles Reasoner
  • I Love Colors by Margaret Miller
• Ages 3-5
  • Shapes: Shapes, Shapes, Shapes by Tana Hoban
  • Colors: Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni

(For more book recommendations, check out this list of our Primrose parents’ top picks.)

To encourage additional critical thinking, ask your child some of these questions after reading each book:

• Who was your favorite character? Why?
• How did the characters in the story solve a problem?
• How else could the story have ended?
• What lesson did the main character learn?
• What did you like most about the story? What did you not like?

Looking for more ways to spend quality time with your child this summer? Here are nine easy and fun activities for your whole family!